London: Fernando Torres is set to be questioned by Chelsea over comments made by the striker that appear to criticise his 'slow' and 'old' teammates.
Chelsea are investigating an interview Torres gave to a Spanish website last week where he appeared to suggest some of his older teammates were "very slow", although he has said he was misquoted.
The misfiring Spanish striker, who has scored just one Premier League goal for the Blues since his Premier League record 50-million-Pound transfer from Liverpool in January, spoke to the official website of the Spanish league last week, whilst an English translation, as well as the Spanish version, appeared on his own personal website.
Torres' website, in Spanish, sees Torres say that the type of players Chelsea have "juega muy lento," which translated means, "play very slowly".
"We are going in-depth to regain the tape of that interview," Andre Villas-Boas, the Chelsea manager said.
"We'll see if things play exactly as they are in that interview."
When asked what action would be taken if the translation proved accurate, the Blues manager added: "We'd just talk. Just talk. To share opinion. If it was unauthorised, I'd fine him. Of course. Anyhow, it's one player's perspective."
"I don't think it's a perspective that the manager shares. I don't have to share my players' ideas sometimes."
"I think we have competence, apart from the 'age problem', which for me is not a problem. Maybe we just have to speak about that situation and he has to see our view as well."
Meanwhile, on the eve of Tuesday's Champions League home tie with Bayer Leverkusen, the Chelsea manager maintains being dropped could provide Torres with extra motivation to turn his game around. The 27-year-old was relegated to the bench for Saturday's 2-1 win at Sunderland and has no guarantee of a recall for the European opener.
"I think any player who's not part of the squad or part of the selected players is not happy," Villas-Boas told a news conference on Monday, without saying whether he planned to field Torres against the German side at Stamford Bridge.
"I'm glad because maybe you can stimulate them to go one step further or motivate them a bit more."
Comments
0 comment